<p>The BJP has called for a day-long bandh in Coimbatore on October 31 in protest against the “lethargic attitude” of the Tamil Nadu government in connection with Sunday’s blast, prompting a strong reaction from the administration which warned of “strict action” if people are “threatened” in the name of hartal.</p>.<p>The BJP has been accusing the DMK and Chief Minister M K Stalin of being in “silent mode” after the explosion. The bandh, BJP MLA from Coimbatore (South) Vanathi Srinivasan said, is to “expose the DMK’s lethargic attitude” and to seek answers on behalf of the people.</p>.<p>However, Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji, who reviewed the law and order situation in Coimbatore on Thursday following the explosion with senior officials, told reporters that normalcy was restored within 12 hours of the incident and the government ensured that people “celebrated Deepavali” without any fear.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/tn-government-recommends-transfer-of-coimbatore-blast-case-to-nia-1156863.html" target="_blank">TN government recommends transfer of Coimbatore blast case to NIA </a></strong></p>.<p>“The DGP was here within hours of the incident and stayed put for two days. Shops were opened the same day and we ensured that the Deepavali festivities were incident-free. Instead of appreciating this, some people are trying to take advantage of the situation and create a wedge in society. It won’t succeed in Tamil Nadu,” Balaji said.</p>.<p>He also took a dig at TN BJP chief K Annamalai for “politicising” and “communalising” the explosion saying the people of Tamil Nadu will never accept politics that isn’t development-oriented. Balaji, in response to a question, said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) should question Annamalai first on how he got “details of the explosion” even before the police could find them.</p>.<p>On the bandh, Balaji said the government will ensure that the law takes its course if BJP threatens people in the name of strike. He also said the government decided to hand over the probe to NIA because of the possible national and ramifications not due to “one leader’s (Annamalai’s) statement.”</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Annamalai posed a series of questions to Chief Minister M K Stalin seeking to know why there was no response to a specific “threat alert” from Central agencies to the state on October 18.</p>.<p>“Why was the state govt caught napping? When the TN state intelligence and Coimbatore police were asked to monitor the activities of the ‘suicide bomber’ & now deceased Mubin (after NIA’s Enquiry in 2019) and which the local police were doing initially but stopped after a while,” he said.</p>.<p>He also wanted to know why the monitoring was stopped after the DMK came to power in 2021. “Is it because of political pressure not to monitor ‘certain’ individuals? Will our CM care to answer, or as usual, will he be in ‘silent mode’?” he asked.</p>
<p>The BJP has called for a day-long bandh in Coimbatore on October 31 in protest against the “lethargic attitude” of the Tamil Nadu government in connection with Sunday’s blast, prompting a strong reaction from the administration which warned of “strict action” if people are “threatened” in the name of hartal.</p>.<p>The BJP has been accusing the DMK and Chief Minister M K Stalin of being in “silent mode” after the explosion. The bandh, BJP MLA from Coimbatore (South) Vanathi Srinivasan said, is to “expose the DMK’s lethargic attitude” and to seek answers on behalf of the people.</p>.<p>However, Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji, who reviewed the law and order situation in Coimbatore on Thursday following the explosion with senior officials, told reporters that normalcy was restored within 12 hours of the incident and the government ensured that people “celebrated Deepavali” without any fear.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/tn-government-recommends-transfer-of-coimbatore-blast-case-to-nia-1156863.html" target="_blank">TN government recommends transfer of Coimbatore blast case to NIA </a></strong></p>.<p>“The DGP was here within hours of the incident and stayed put for two days. Shops were opened the same day and we ensured that the Deepavali festivities were incident-free. Instead of appreciating this, some people are trying to take advantage of the situation and create a wedge in society. It won’t succeed in Tamil Nadu,” Balaji said.</p>.<p>He also took a dig at TN BJP chief K Annamalai for “politicising” and “communalising” the explosion saying the people of Tamil Nadu will never accept politics that isn’t development-oriented. Balaji, in response to a question, said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) should question Annamalai first on how he got “details of the explosion” even before the police could find them.</p>.<p>On the bandh, Balaji said the government will ensure that the law takes its course if BJP threatens people in the name of strike. He also said the government decided to hand over the probe to NIA because of the possible national and ramifications not due to “one leader’s (Annamalai’s) statement.”</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Annamalai posed a series of questions to Chief Minister M K Stalin seeking to know why there was no response to a specific “threat alert” from Central agencies to the state on October 18.</p>.<p>“Why was the state govt caught napping? When the TN state intelligence and Coimbatore police were asked to monitor the activities of the ‘suicide bomber’ & now deceased Mubin (after NIA’s Enquiry in 2019) and which the local police were doing initially but stopped after a while,” he said.</p>.<p>He also wanted to know why the monitoring was stopped after the DMK came to power in 2021. “Is it because of political pressure not to monitor ‘certain’ individuals? Will our CM care to answer, or as usual, will he be in ‘silent mode’?” he asked.</p>
